Here we are in 2010, and although I am usually dead set against new year’s resolutions, I think I’ll take this opportunity to start blogging with a vengeance!
I have invited several friends I met through SAC (Songwriters’ Association of Canada) and I’ll be sending out invites to many more so I hope to turn this blog into a forum for some ideas about songwriting. What motivates you, what challenges you, whose writing do you admire and why?
Please feel free to comment on anything you read, or start a new topic, there’s nothing I like more than talking shop with songwriters!
I started out with a few entries on songwriting which can be found under “Notes on Songwriting”. I’m still not 100% up to speed with the nuts and bolts of blogging - so anyone who has some experience with Wordpress, any suggestions gratefully accepted. Right now I’m just kinda skimming the surface and hoping it looks okay and works! Please be patient if your comment doesn’t come up right away, as you can tell from some of my previous entries - spam comments are still a bit of a challenge so I have to screen or I’d have 50 viagara ads for every legit comment, sheesh!
A New Year and a New Start
January 3rd, 2010Somedays it feels like I’m talking to myself…
September 19th, 2009It’s not that I don’t get many comments, it’s just that they are all incredibly transparent, insultingly stupid attempts to get their URLs on my blogsite so they can sell viagara or whatever to unsuspecting visitors! Just makes you wonder how many sales these idiots get with this pernicious, viral method of mendacious marketing!
This blog was supposed to be about the musical journey, and even if the only ones reading it are modern day cyber snake-oil salesmen, I guess I’ll keep on. Although I suppose even the snake-oil salesmen don’t actually read the blogs that they infect. There’s probably just some busy little ‘bot, merrily meandering through cyberspace, sowing seeds of the dreaded propaganda plant in unsuspecting blogs worldwide.
Sigh!
Anyway, if it seemed like it had been a while since I wrote anything, that’s why; a slight case of dissillusionment with the malevolently mercenary comments that I am constantly asked to ‘moderate’.
But the musical journey continues. After a very busy Summer Season of playing at festivals etc… and releasing the new CD “Breathe”, I’m hoping the pace might slow down a little before the Christmas rush. Starting a new job tomorrow (no, I’m not quitting my day job, most musicians don’t you know!)
But I promise to start posting some more “Musical Journey” content on the blog on a more regular basis.
Linda
More Stories from the Studio…
June 23rd, 2009Rick was in the studio last week and did an excellent job on stand up bass! I discovered that no matter how much you plan and prepare there is always the possibility of serendipity sneaking up on you. On “Goodbye Old Friend” we were blown away by the imaginitive ending that Rick had concocted - bowed staccatos that sounded reminiscent of heartbeats (one of the last lines of the song is “…we’re still joined at the heart…”). I sat in the control booth with my jaw on my chest it sounded so cool. When Rick offered to ‘fix’ the ending we were amazed; we were sure he’d done it on purpose. Apparently he’d been practicing the ending in a much simpler way but when he was recording he accidentally stopped too early. Thinking that he’d have to re-do the song or at least punch in a new ending, he started to ‘goof around’. It took a bit of convincing that the ‘goofing around’ was not only staying on the CD, but he’d have to remember it for live performances! Thanks Rick! I guess the lesson here is to stay open to new ideas and not micro-manage the whole operation to death.
Not long after Rick’s recording sessions, Greg came in and over the course of two sessions recorded the drum tracks. Not all the songs have drums on them. Sometimes knowing what to leave out is as important as what to add in. Actually, it’s probably more important. Greg is an incredibly easy person to work with, he is endlessly cheerful and very professional. I have to say I’m a little intimidated sometimes by the skills of the three musicians who helped me with this CD. They have much more ‘technical’ knowledge of music than I do but they are extremely patient and allow me to explain what kind of ’sound’ I’m looking for in my own words, even if my analogies and explanations are a little bizarre. And they tease me constantly about having LSD (Lead Singer Disorder)!
The last of the recording starts tomorrow, when I go in and record the vocals. I’ll also be inviting my good friend Barb Munro to add some harmonies to “Flying with Angels”. We performed this song at my New Traditions Concert and we were so pleased with the harmonies that I just had to have them on the CD!
I am truly blessed in my friends.
Studio Update
May 4th, 2009Well, all of the guitar tracks are done - Thank you Ian! Tomorrow Rick Slack will be in Solar Peace Productions’ studio and we’ll be laying down the bass tracks. Rick plays the stand up bass aka ‘the big thing in the corner’. I’m really looking forward to hearing what he’s put together. After the bass is down, just need the drums and I can put the final vocals down and it’ll be up to Bert to do the mixing magic. I deliberately keep my music as uncluttered as possible. I have a horror of over produced music; it can sound so bad so easily. I also have a theory; a real song is one that can be sung/played when there’s a power failure. I suppose there are those who would dispute it, but hey, it’s my theory and it works for me.
The way we record (and I have no idea if this is any different from how everyone else does it ’cause I’ve never been privy to how everyone else does it!) is that I sit in the control booth with Bert and Ian sits out in the sound booth with headphones on and we crank up the metronome and I sing along to help him keep his place. This is just a ’scratch’ vocal and will be replaced in the end with the real vocal track(s). Then Rick comes in and listens to the ’scratch vocal & Ian’s guitar track’ plus metronome and we record the bass track. Greg Wandling will do the same thing for drums. Then, once all the instruments are down, I will record the vocals. Pretty simple really, and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned!
I am very lucky to have such talented musicians willing to play on my CD, and Bert is very patient and meticulous, excellent traits for the job he’s doing!
I still haven’t decided what to name the CD! I think it should be the name of one of the songs, but which one? There are 11 songs: Bed of Stones, In the Rain, Frozen Heart, One Good Reason, Goodbye Old Friend, Strange World, I’m Not Finished Crying Yet, Ghawdex (pronounced aw-DESH), Fly With Angels, Breathe, and Damned If She Just Walks Away.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to Bed of Stones, Frozen Heart, Breathe, or Strange World.
Any suggestions?
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
April 8th, 2009Bill and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert last night; in one of those high falutin’ boxes no less! Thanks Theresa! Theresa Gladue, a good friend and a grade A, gung-ho arts and culture supporter, puts on variety shows featuring local talent to raise money for various good causes. Bill and I are happy to help out by providing volunteer performances at these fun events and in an innovative show of volunteer appreciation, Theresa took us and several other ‘lifer’ volunteers to the concert in style! What a great concert it was. Just the right mix of old and new and some outrageously fabulous harmonica playing! The audience was extremely enthusiastic; singing along on Mr. Bojangles and Fishing in the Dark. I think the band could feel the love.
On a professional note; although I don’t let it interfere with my enjoyment of the show, I’m always looking at the stagecraft angle - what do they do - why do they do it - how does it affect the show. NGDB have been performing for decades and their performances are tight and well organized. Each person is featured at various points which adds amazing dynamics to the overall show. One thing I noticed was the person off stage who seemed dedicated to keeping instruments tuned; that’s organized and smart - who wants to go to a concert to see someone tuning? The thing is, it was super organized but it didn’t look contrived, it felt very relaxed and personal. These guys are very good at what they do. If you’re playing professionally or trying to break into that business, I’d recommend having a look at some of the real pros, like NGDB, with an eye to how they present themselves and try to understand why they do what they do. Mimicry without understanding the underlying motivation won’t work unless you’re doing an impersonator act. (and even then, understanding the motivation would make that act more believable). Knowing the motivations and then applying that to your own show will only make it better. I know I’m going to take away some valuable bits to apply to my performances.
Mechanical Licenses (and a note about Chetwynd)
April 6th, 2009I was interested in recording some cover songs (songs by other artists, instead of my own compositions) so I did a little research and discovered I would need something called a “mechanical license”. That’s basically a license or permission to record the song. I found that the fee is around 8 or 9 cents per song per CD released and that you have to purchase a license for a minimum of 500 CDs. I also did some research on licensing for digital downloads and found it so confusing that I decided that if I recorded a cover CD I wouldn’t even bother doing a digital download release. I’d just do the CDs.
We played as ClassiCountry (country band) in Chetwynd BC (Canada) last weekend and the response was very warm and welcoming. We were asked repeatedly if the songs were available on a CD so I’m pretty sure there’s a market for a CD of country cover songs. The country music we play is all older (hence ‘ClassiCountry’) so the tunes would be Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash etc… and there’s definately a market for that in Northern British Columbia.
We actually played at two venues in Chetwynd last weekend. We also provided the sound equipment/technical support at the Chetwynd Coffee House and we (Bill and I and Ian) played some songs at the coffeehouse. Because the other performance was the next evening, we decided to stay over night. That gave us some time during the day to do something we’d been promising to do for ages - get a closer look at some of the spectacular chainsaw sculpture that is so prominent in Chetwynd.
- Linda on Eagle Bench
Bill sitting on Wild Rose Bench
Write What You Know
April 3rd, 2009“Write what you know” seems like good advice but it really doesn’t go far enough. At first glance it would seem to mean that all your songs should be autobiographical. Well, we know that can’t be right because if it were, most songwriters would be too busy recovering from their lives to write anything down!
‘Writing what you know’ infers something more. It encourages us to keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open so we can ‘know’ more. Your powers of observation are a first class, all expense paid ticket to song material. We can ‘know’ things through an empathic connection to the world around us. We see how cruelly someone treats their family and we think “It ought to be a crime.” You can leave it at that or put it to music and call it a song.
Take every experience, every tear, every laugh, every funny episode or tragic event and examine it for inspiration. Examine it for the universal feelings that speak to us all on some level. Love, fear, hope, pain, joy, betrayal, revelation and the list goes on. Harnessing the essence of human emotion makes for powerful lyrics. Even if your life is calm and uneventful, look around you for inspiration. Indeed, coming from calmness, you may be able to interpret the maelstrom more insightfully than someone at its core. Write what you know. Just open your eyes, ears, and heart and ‘know’ more.
Time to Write
March 28th, 2009There’s always a temptation to procrastinate, even when you enjoy songwriting and sometimes even because you enjoy it. We often feel unreasonably guilty over spending time doing something we enjoy. We tell ourselves we should be doing the laundry or mowing the lawn or something else ‘more important’. Well, no, we shouldn’t. If we have the inspiration to write we should definitely write. This isn’t a justification to avoid all chores it’s just a matter of understanding priorities.
One reason we put off writing is the little voice that makes us feel guilty about being creative. Yep, it’s the inner critic again. The trick is to bypass the critic. Sometimes just being aware of its tactics will allow you to move past it. If that fails maybe you should do the laundry or mow the lawn! Seriously, often doing rote tasks, particularly ones that involve a rhythmic aspect (thumpety-thump goes the dryer, round and round the yard you push the mower) will lull the critic to sleep and allow your creative side to come out and play.
Lines, melodies, or even whole songs have come to me when I am walking, or raking, or vacuuming. Driving alone is a great time get creative. Don’t listen to CDs or the radio; listen to the vehicle. It’s alive with terrific beats and rhythms. My song “Breathe” started from the slap-slap of the windshield wipers.
Eventually we become more aware of our creative side and we allow it to unfold; no guilt, no expectations, rules or deadlines. We give ourselves permission to be creative and suddenly there’s all the time in the world.
The Zen of Songwriting
March 26th, 2009“The song is already written; you just have to remember it.” That belief changed my whole approach to songwriting. I used to agonise over writing. I enjoyed it but there was always an element of apprehension. “How will this song end?” “What if it sucks?”
That’s the inner critic talking. A necessary aspect of our personality, our inner critic stops us from doing potentially dangerous things. But the critic can also be a first class killjoy when it comes to being creative. To the critic, all unfamiliar ground is dangerous. So it’s just as anxious about you writing a song as it is about you going bungee jumping.
My inner critic used to be front and centre all the time, second guessing, interfering, and generally making the whole process more difficult and less fun than it should have been. Accepting that the song already exists (maybe not on your page, but in the universe somewhere) means there are no doubts that the right word, the perfect rhyme, the excellent hook exist. You don’t have to invent you just need to remember. Remembering doesn’t kick in the inner critic like inventing does. Your attitude to writing and being creative is crucial. If you do not believe yourself worthy of being an artist, you will continually find yourself blocked, externally and internally. Believe in yourself and the universe will conspire to help you at every turn. It’s also very reassuring to know the universe is taking care of your songs until you need them.
Recording in the studio - ‘Punching in’
March 22nd, 2009 Bill took some video while we were in the studio yesterday (Solar Peace Productions) of me singing “Fly with Angels” (just part of the chorus) while Ian records the guitar track. Unfortunately Wordpress is not recognizing my video file so I’ll work on that. Once I get it up here (which I WILL do) you’ll hear an annoying tapping noise, that’s the click track; annoying but very essential! If you’re laying down separate tracks the click track keeps everyone ‘on track’. I’ve tried recording without it and it’s the most nerve wracking experience I’ve ever had in the studio!!
Anyway, once all the instrument tracks are down I’ll be recording the ‘real’ vocal track (without phones ringing, pussycats purring etc…). Just thought you might be interested in the process.
Me and Ian listening to a guitar take
Once the track is recorded you need to listen very closely to make sure there are no oopses; silly things that you never notice during a live performance, things like fret noise or the chair creaking or the odd twang. Then we ‘punch in”; that means Ian will play along with the original track and at a spot just before the oops, Bert will ‘punch in’ - start recording the new part with, hopefully, no oops. If that sounds simplistic and low tech it’s because that’s what I am when it comes to the recording part of all this - simple and low tech!!